By: Bright Ntuli
President Cyril Ramaphosa says he will urgently take the Section 89 independent panel’s report on review following the recent Constitutional Court ruling related to the Phala Phala scandal.
Last Friday, the Constitutional Court of South Africa declared Parliament’s decision not to adopt the panel’s report invalid.
The Section 89 panel had found that Ramaphosa may have violated his oath of office in relation to his handling of the 2020 break-in at his Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo.
Addressing the nation at the Union Buildings on Monday evening, Ramaphosa said he believes the panel’s findings are flawed and should be subjected to judicial review.
“When the independent panel submitted its report in December 2022, I disagreed with its findings- in my submission to the panel I said the complaints against me are based on hearsay allegations, no evidence has been presented to prove that I committed serious violations on the constitution or the law,” said Ramaphosa.
The president maintained that he had acted within the law and said the review process would be pursued on an expedited basis to provide legal clarity on the matter.
The Phala Phala controversy centres on the theft of a large sum of foreign currency from the president’s game farm and allegations surrounding the reporting and handling of the incident.
